Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

Drake's Beautiful Bulldog Contest is back and will allow public to vote online

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

With his crown a bit askew, Bruiser surveys his domain after being named the winner of the 2004 Beautiful Bulldog contest at Drake University. Bruiser, 2, is owned by Holly Melom of Granger. Register file photo

Lucey, owned by Dr. Tiffany and Toby Torstenson of Waukee, won the 2014 Beautiful Bulldog contest that was held at the Knapp Center on the Drake University campus. Tiffany and her daughter Chayse are next to her. Register file photo

From 2019: Beau, of Urbandale, is crowned the 40th Beautiful Bulldog during Drake University's annual contest marking the start of Drake Relays. The bulldog is owned by T.J. and Angela McKenzie. Kelsey Kremer/The Register

Instead of local celebrity judges, this year's contest will give the public a task many of us were born to do: Fawn over photos of dogs on the internet.

Along with the rest of the Drake Relays events, the in-person Beautiful Bulldog Contest, during which several bulldogs wear costumes and parade across a stage to great fanfare, was initially postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. So for the first time in 41 years, the contest will go online, the university said in a news release.

Buy Photo

Beautiful Bulldog contest winner Bow-Z takes to the field at the Drake Relays Saturday, April 28, 2018.(Photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register)

Voting began Thursday afternoon at drake.edu/beautifulbulldog. Voters will narrow the competitive 200-bulldog field to 32 dogs, which will then be placed in a bracket. The winners of the one-on-one matchups in the bracket will advance to the Fancy Four.

Each of the Fancy Four will submit videos and biographical information so voters know more about each dog before crowning the 2020 Most Beautiful Bulldog.

The championship round will culminate on April 21, National Bulldogs Are Beautiful Day, which the Register has confirmed is a thing.

Voters will only choose the most beautiful bulldog and its runners-up. Usually, there are other awards, such as one for the best-dressed dog.

“The word ‘unprecedented’ may seem to be overused lately, but it certainly sums up what our community is experiencing right now,” said Rob TeKolste of Sammons Financial, the event's sponsor. “It’s precisely why maintaining community traditions like Drake’s Beautiful Bulldog contest is so important. We are pleased to be a part of the event, and reimagining it through a virtual format.”

In 2019, a bulldog named Beau was crowned the contest's 40th Most Beautiful Bulldog and fulfilled his duties at the 2019 Drake Relays mascot.

Austin Cannon covers the city of Des Moines for the Register. Reach him at awcannon@registermedia.com or 515-284-8398. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal.